Hello! Just started ME3 as a Vanguard (imported from ME2) and I'm on Mars.
I haven't been using Nova too much yet because my shield goes down very quickly and hence I'd take health damage.
In this game, I can't heal all health damage by waiting behind cover, only 1 bar can be healed.
So... Anyone has tips on how to use Nova effectively?
Use right before you use biotic charge. Particularly useful if you have charge fully upgraded to restore full barrier after use.
Nova + Charge + heavy melee/ shotgun.
Just be careful when there are still a lot of mobs around. You will be pretty open to attack unless you can get to cover.
I use a similar set up with my N7 Slayer on multiplayer. Phase Disrupt drains sheilds so I hit them with it then biotic charge to damage then shotgun at point blank range.
Use half blast on Rank 5b. Reduces your damage and force by 50%, but it reduces your shields being drained by Nova by 50%. It is the ideal solution, now that we know it is possible. It is inevitable we will reach novaguard.
The truly expert players take advantage of something called Nova cancelling. During the Nova animation you are temporarily invulnerable. If you cancel the Nova just as the animation starts (by hitting melee?) then you are still invulnerable for a brief period but your barrier is not drained. Apparently you can do this repeatedly to become nearly invulnerable. I personally don't know how to do this any more than I can reload cancel. But skilled players have learned how to do these things to a tee.
Other options might be half blast for Nova, full barrier restore for Charge, and Fortification as a bonus power. Recharge time is crucial. For 4 seconds after a Charge you have something like 50% damage reduction, so getting your recharge speed on Charge down to 3-3.5 seconds would be ideal. Fortification would add 40% damage reduction, though it would slow down your recharge times.
Thanks for the tips so far.
The reload cancelling isn't something I need as the reload time is shorter than the Charge's cooldown.
However, the Nova cancelling seems interessting.
I will try that out 
I would just need to do it twice between charges lol.
It's a shame you can't one shot enemies anymore :/
I like to charge one shot rinse repeat in ME2 
Hello! Just started ME3 as a Vanguard (imported from ME2) and I'm on Mars.
I haven't been using Nova too much yet because my shield goes down very quickly and hence I'd take health damage.
In this game, I can't heal all health damage by waiting behind cover, only 1 bar can be healed.
So... Anyone has tips on how to use Nova effectively?
It's a shame you can't one shot enemies anymore :/
I like to charge one shot rinse repeat in ME2
A few things:
Nova works best when you Charge> Nova,or if you Charge > Shoot > Nova. With Half Blast you can Nova twice so you can Charge > Nova > Nova, or Charge > shoot > Nova > Nova.
Also of note: Charge gives you +50% damage reduction for 4 seconds after charging. So you generally want to keep your weapon weight light enough so you keep Charge on 4s or quicker cooldown. (3 seconds if you want to exploit Half Blast Nova).
There are some topics here you may want to check out: Mass Effect 3 Single Player: A compilation of strategy guides and discussions. Of note:
For you concern about one-shotting shielded enemies, this is based on a mechanic called shieldgate, explained here. But generally you do not need to worry about it if you carry a good rapid-firing weapon (like the Punisher or Hurricane SMGs) or weapons that fire multiple bullets at once (like most shotguns and the Talon).
Good weapons to use on a Charge-Nova Vanguard:
Recommended build:
Incendiary Ammo: Squad Bonus - Headshot Damage - Explosive Burst
Biotic Charge: Radius - Weapon Synergy - Barrier
Nova: Damage - Half Blast - Pierce
Assault Mastery: Damage - Weight Capacity - Shotgun Damage
Fitness: Durability - Melee Damage - Durability
Bonus powers:
The following are good bonus powers for the Vanguard:
Squadmates:
EDI, Ashley, and Tali are good for priming various tech explosions which you can detonate with Nova or Charge.
James is rather weak as a squadmate for the Vanguard.
(I am probably forgetting a squadmate. Oh well.)
One last thing:
Damage protection: you actually take about +40% more damage when out of cover. So that +50% damage protection for 4 seconds from biotic Charge means you are only getting +10% damage protection when out of cover for 4 seconds after charging.
This is why taking Fortification as a bonus power can be good for giving you always-on damage protection. Reave can also give you damage protection for a short time. Both Fortification and Reave can give you up to +40% damage protection. Barrier and Defense Matrix can only give you a maximum of +30% damage protection.
That was... complete
Thanks a lot.
I respecced and now things are better, but I'm still dying a bit. Much less than with my Infiltrator when I played ME3 for the first time.
I can nova cancel but I still don't have too much practice in the sense of doing it to stay alive between charges.
Do you mean I could, in theory, one shot enemies with a claymore due to the many pellets? That'd be awesome
Btw, can I use Fortification and still have a charge cooldown of 4s?? I believe that could only be possible with 2 lvl 5 weapons I guess.
I cannot take Reave yet, so I'm using Energy Drain. I'm a bit reluctant to use Fortification due to the slowdown in the power recharge.
But I was planning to take reave anyway, just have to wait until I get it.
Do you mean I could, in theory, one shot enemies with a claymore due to the many pellets? That'd be awesome
Btw, can I use Fortification and still have a charge cooldown of 4s?? I believe that could only be possible with 2 lvl 5 weapons I guess.
To answer your first question, yes you can one-shot shielded enemies with the Claymore.
Two answer your second question, you can still use Fortification (or Barrier or Defense Matrix) and still have a charge cooldown of 4 seconds. However, a lot of that depends on what weapon and armor you are using.
For example, to use Fortication and the Claymore, you need the Claymore X plus armor with power cooldown bonuses (Intel with power cooldown bonuses can also help). You can get by without power cooldown bonuses with some lighter weapons like the Raider (Leviathan DLC) or the Talon.
Kronner had a thread about it here. He used Barrier (this was before the last patch that introduced some changes that made Fortification better). That thread includes some videos although he does not use Nova a whole lot. I do not have any Vanguard vids of my own that show a NovaGuard using Fortification. Some others may have some if they want to share. You may be able to find a few on YouTube perhaps.
Why is Fortification better? It gives melee damage but I prefer recharging barrier.
Fortification gives better max damage reduction (+40%) compared to Defense Matrix (+30%).
Fortification rank 5 Power Synergy provides +30% power damage to all powers including ammo powers such as Incendiary Ammo.
Fortification has a lesser cooldown penalty when active (-50%) than Defense Matrix (-60%).
Plus you are If playing as a Vanguard that used Biotic Charge. Biotic Charge replenishes your shields (+50% to +100%, depending on evolutions). If you are replenishing your shields by charging, then you are not purging Defense Matrix to replenish your shields; in fact there is no need to purge Defense Matrix if you are charging.
That is why Defense Matrix is not as good on the typical Charge-Nova Vanguard compared to Defense Matrix. Defense Matrix could be a decent bonus power choice if you are playing as some sort of chargeless Vanguard (particularly Chargless Novaguard).
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